Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans on this day in 1889. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America and the highest ranking confederate leader of the South.

On this day in 1957, America’s first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed when the Vanguard TV-3 launch vehicle lost thrust after lift-off and exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, FL. The launch was in response to the Soviet Union’s orbiting of Sputnik l.